NEW YORK YANKEES 11, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Sunday, April 29, 1973.

Batting star:  Dan Monzon was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  None.

Opposition stars:  Ron Blomberg was 4-for-4 with a double, a walk and three RBIs.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4.  Thurman Munson was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.  Matty Alou was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Fritz Peterson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  New York took a 1-0 lead in the first, as Roy White walked, Thurman Munson singled, and a pair of productive ground outs followed.  The Twins tied it in the second.  Joe Lis reached on an error with one out, Danny Thompson doubled, Dan Monzon walked to load the bases, and Phil Roof delivered an RBI single.

It stayed tied until the fourth.  With two out, Ron Blomberg singled and scored on a Johnny Callison double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.  New York increased its lead in the sixth.  Matty Alou, Bobby Mercer, and Graig Nettles all singled to bring home a run, and Blomberg followed with an RBI double to put the Yankees up 4-1.

The Twins put two on with two out in the seventh and with one out in the eighth, but failed to score.  Then, in the bottom of the eighth, New York put it out of reach, scoring seven times.  The Twins put one man on in the ninth, but fell 11-1.

WP:  Fritz Peterson (2-3).

LP:  Bill Hands (2-2).

S:  Lindy McDaniel (3).

Notes:  Phil Roof was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Dan Monzon was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jerry Terrell was at third base in place of Steve Braun.  Mike Adams was in left.  There really wasn’t a regular left fielder, with Jim Holt getting the most appearances there with 80 and Larry Hisle following with 50.  Hisle was in center, which was his primary position in 1973.  Danny Walton was in right field, with Bobby Darwin, the regular right fielder, at DH and Tony Oliva out of the lineup.

This was the second game of a doubleheader, which explains the number of regulars out of the lineup.

This was the first game in which Dan Monzon batted in 1973, so he was batting .667.  He would finish at .224.  Jerry Terrell was batting .364.  He would finish at .265.  Larry Hisle was batting .304.  He would finish at .272.  Rod Carew, who did not play in this game, would win the batting title at .350.

Ray Corbin had an ERA of 2.92.  He would finish at 3.03.

Graig Nettles played for the Twins from 1967-1969.  Bernie Allen, who was 0-for-2 with two walks, played for the Twins from 1962-1966.

Lindy McDaniel started pitching in the top of the eighth, with the score 4-1, which is why he was able to get a save.

What a team the 1973 Twins were.  They had a few good players, but their regulars included George Mitterwald, Joe Lis, Danny Thompson, Jim Holt, and Bobby Darwin.  The rotation was not bad, with Bert Blyleven (2.52 ERA), Jim Kaat (4.41), Joe Decker (4.17), and Dick Woodson (3.95).  Also making double-digit starts were Bill Hands (3.49) and Dave Goltz (5.25).

Kaat was in his age thirty-four season.  He would be placed on waivers in August and claimed by the White Sox, but would only play another ten years after that.

The 1973 Yankees had a lot of players who, if you remember them at all, you don’t remember as Yankees.  Matty Alou, Johnny Callison, Hal Lanier, Bernie Allen, all had substantial careers in other places.

Record:  New York was 9-10, in fourth place in the AL East, one game behind Baltimore.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, seventeen games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 9-8, tied for third with California in the AL West, two games behind Chicago.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, thirteen games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 24-25 (.490).